ms. lofgren: thank you. i'd like to now recognize our colleague from san diego, distinguished member of the armed services committee, education and labor, susan davis. mrs. davis: thank you so much. mr. speaker, as the only member from the 53rd district, only one district is 53 in the country, the highest number district ever. i'm so aware of the size and the scope of california and its congressional delegation. we have such a wide range of talents and perspectives and contributions that california members bring to this body. and as we see the 104 -- 114th congress now come to a close, we have more departing members than many delegations have in the first place. i'm here to talk about some of them. we are losing leaders. we are losing friends and mentors, members who we have looked to and served beside. we're losing members who have been so influential as they have shared their passion to make lives better each in their own way. as we bid them farewell, i want to take just this moment to pay frbt -- tribute

ms. lofgren: we had a number of other members who had planned to be here but because of the hour, there is a conflict event. they will be adding their voices to the record. let me just close by saying our delegation, really all the congress and the public are going to miss the distinguished capps, of sam farr, lois oretta sanchez, mike honda and they made their mark that will be forgotten. we are sad to see them go. we have fresh faces who are very distinguished and will headache their mark because we are just passing through this people's house in an effort to serve our country as best we can. certainly these members have served their public and we are honored to have served with them and with that, i yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the chair recognizes the gentleman rom arkansas, mr. hill, for 30 minutes. mr. hill: i appreciate the opportunity to address the people's house this evening. last night i talked about my initial reflection of having been a freshman spending my fir